Operators of wagering games are continually seeking new game ideas which provide wide player popularity to promote greater player enjoyment, increased volume of play, and ultimately, higher revenues from their gaming operations. Study of existing successful games (5 card draw poker, keno, "21", etc.) shows that they usually include many of some general characteristics, including the following:
An underlying game concept which is easily understood and has wide recognition in our society, e.g. by basing a game on combinations of cards drawn from a deck of playing cards, with graduated award levels assigned to common poker hands (pairs, two pairs, straights, flushes, etc.), wide public recognition of the game is achieved. The structure of a deck of cards is well known, as are the basics regarding the identity of winning poker hands and the relative difficulty associated with attaining each hand; PA1 The rules of the game are simple and can be explained in just a few short sentences to an average member of the general populace; PA1 The game involves one or more simple decisions (other than deciding on the wager amount) to provide the player with a feeling that he has some influence on the final outcome of the game; PA1 The game is fair, e.g., in a dice game the player must feel confident that each of the six possible outcomes of the die roll are equally likely; PA1 The game must provide a high success rate, in other words, the ratio of winning rounds to total rounds played (commonly referred to as hit frequency) should be a high number; PA1 The player must feel that during any one extended play session or round there is a reasonable chance of winning more than what is being risked in order to play the game.
In addition to these requirements, a practical game must, on average, provide both the players and the game operator with a predictable share of all moneys wagered which are within acceptable statistical limits governed by the laws of probability. The share of moneys wagered which is kept by the game operator must provide sufficient revenue to cover overhead costs and provide the expected rate of return on the resources invested for development of the gaming operation. The operators share, when expressed as a percentage of total moneys wagered, is referred to as the "hold percentage." In precise mathematical terms the hold percentage is the Mathematical Expectation (also referred to as the Expected Value) of the percentage of moneys wagered that is kept by the game.
The percentage of moneys wagered that is paid out to players in the form of awards is referred to as the "payback percentage." The payback percentage must be high enough to provide the player with the perception that he or she is receiving good entertainment value for their wagering dollar. In precise mathematical terms, the payback percentage is the Mathematical Expectation (or Expected Value) of the percentage of total money wagered that is returned to the player.
One major problem with many proposed new games is that the player is bombarded with a complicated set of rules that must be fully understood before the player is competent enough at the game to have a fair chance in winning. This understanding can only be accomplished by expending money to play the game. In effect, the player must finance his or her own education about the game. Most players are unwilling to invest their limited time and money to learn a new game they probably perceive as being too complicated in the first place.
Given this, one popular approach taken in developing new games is to make modifications to existing, well known games in an effort to increase their popularity. Ideally, the changes are minor enough to not seriously impact player understanding, yet are substantial enough to provide significant increases in player appeal.
Quite often these modifications take the form of an increased award in an effort to encourage more play. From the game operator's point of view, this has the unfortunate side effect of decreasing the hold percentage. Therefore, in order to be successful at providing an overall increase in revenue, large increases in levels of play must be attained to offset revenue lost due to the decrease in hold percentage. As competition for market share of available wagering dollars intensifies, this type of modification becomes more and more difficult to successfully implement.
Therefore, a need has existed in the prior art for ways of modifying existing well known wagering games so that they are more interesting and popular with the players but without decreasing the hold percentage of the game.
An example of such a modification of a well known video poker game was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,022 to Wood, May 10, 1988, entitled "2nd Chance Poker". In this game, the player of a video poker game can prolong the game by making an additional bet after the conclusion of the initial round of poker that results in the player receiving an additional card which, when combined with the cards already received, may result in the player winning an additional award.
Yet another example of such a modification of an existing video poker game was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,744 to Bridgeman, et al., issued Jul. 23, 1991. Instead of the player receiving five cards, selecting the cards to be retained, and then all at once receiving the replacements for the discards Bridgeman, et al., permits the selective reception of replacement cards, one at a time. This in turn allows the player to prolong play and change strategy depending upon the identity of each of the individual replacement cards.
In all of the games of which Applicant is aware; however, the player will receive an award only after a winning combination is achieved. Further, none of these known games permit the player to be given a choice during a round, permitting the player to make another gambling decision without making an additional wager. Specifically, none of the games of which Applicant is aware, provide an offer of an award during the round itself thereby providing the player the choice of selecting between a guaranteed award, the value of which is based on what the player then holds, or continuing to play the round and receiving an award at the end of the round.
In order to rectify these shortcomings, Applicant has developed the following invention that will provide such a decision for the players during the course of the round. Further, Applicant has developed an invention that is easily implemented on many well-known, existing games.